(a) Field of the Invention
This application relates to a system for humidifying oxygen to be supplied through an oxygen therapy device such as the type to be carried by individuals who are required to breathe oxygen-enriched air under medical supervision. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, this application relates to a system that includes a reservoir and a diffuser for enhancing humidification of oxygen being through a water reservoir for humidification.
(b) Discussion of Known Art
The need to humidify gasses being delivered to a patient though breathing devices, such as face masks or tubes that deliver the gas through nasal passages or other passages that lead to a patient's lungs has long been recognized. The humidify these gasses has led to the development of various devices that assist the gas in becoming humidified. As is well known, the ability of a fluid in a gaseous state, such as oxygen or air at room temperature, to accept other gases, such as water vapor, depends on the manner in which the two are exposed. For example, the exposure of a large surface area of water against the gas will provide greater opportunity for the water to evaporate and mix with the adjacent gas. Other factors such as relative humidity will also affect the ability of the gas to accept more water.
A significant problem associated with oxygen therapy is that the oxygen to be administered to the patient is dispensed in a substantially pure form from a cylinder containing the oxygen, a source of oxygen in a liquid state, or from an oxygen concentration system that delivers the oxygen to the patient through a hose that is attached to a breathing mask or a cannula that delivers the gas to the nasal passages. Thus, the oxygen is rather dry, meaning free or substantially free of any moisture. This dryness leads to the drying out of the patient's nasal passages, which eventually leads to chapped nasal tissue and bleeding through cracking of the chapped tissue.
While it is known that the gas being delivered to the patient may be humidified through one of many known devices. However, known devices suffer from a lack of efficiency due to the fact that they typically expose the oxygen by simply placing the end of a tube or pipe in a water bath. This approach provides very little control over the size of the bubbles being delivered from the end of the tube, and thus provides little control over the amount of humidification of the oxygen or gas being delivered to the patient.
Other known devices attach a diffuser at the end of the tube. These diffusers are typically simply mesh or slotted membranes that help break up the bubbles being delivered into the water. Once the bubbles are dispersed into the water, they simply float up to the surface where they break up into slightly humidified oxygen. A significant limitation to this approach is that the diffuser must be kept immersed in water, and thus a significant amount of water must be kept in the humidifier in order to ensure proper function of the diffuser. The amount of water that must be kept in the water reservoir of the humidifier is an important consideration when a person undergoing oxygen therapy carries the device, which includes the weight of the water. More water means more weight to carry around. Accordingly, there remains a need for a humidification system that provides for effective humidification even with very small amounts of water.
Still further, an important feature of a humidification device is the control of the amount of humidification delivered with the oxygen or gas. Many known devices simply provide a fixed, predetermined, amount of humidification, and do not allow for the patient to control the amount of humidification achieved by the device.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an efficient humidification system that can be used with oxygen therapy systems, and which maximizes the use of the water used for humidification.
Therefore, a review of known devices reveals that there remains a need for a simple humidification device that can be attached to a portable oxygen bottle, liquid oxygen supply, or other oxygen supply mechanism that is suspended by a sling from the patient's body.
There remains a need for an efficient humidification system that can be used as a portable device as well as with stationary oxygen delivery devices, such as home oxygen delivery systems or oxygen concentrators or other stationary devices.
There remains a need for a simple humidification device that minimizes the weight of the water being carried, while maximizing the exposure of water to the oxygen being delivered.
Still further, there remains a need for an oxygen humidification system that tolerates tilting of the device at various angles with minimal effect on the device's ability to expose the oxygen to the water held by the humidifier, as well as minimizing the amount of water needed to achieve a desired level of humidification.